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Sounds a lot like my story!

Oh, I’m not going to argue with that! I still consider myself as a novice after a more than 20years plus interest in the subject. The lack of references is my bane. The pictures are often either focused on the Hada or on the Hamon, rarely both so it’s been an everyday struggle to learn, with some enthusiastic phases and pessimistic ones. I realize that what I really lack isn’t books, I have many of those, but live experience. And, that, in my area, is definitely not a given... Hello Sébastien, The Fujishiro Nihon Toko Jiten (Shinto and Kotō) can be found in the article section of that section. These are the ones I have printed, so I guess (hope?) they’re the right ones. Anyway, they’re a stand in until I buy the real deal. I have the Connoisseurs book and many others. In fact, I think I have exhausted the Japanese English translations of available sword books and those written by English authors like Rayhan or Fuller and Gregory. Now I’m filling my library with Markus’ corpus little by little. I have his major titles and next on my list are his Kantei series.

Is there a way to get this translation only? If I see that it is useful to me, at some point I want to get the hard copy as I love solid books more than virtual ones.

Thanks, Paul, I’d read that theory stating they mixed foreign steel with tamahagane, but is this a theory or is this based in documented fact. Basically, what I mean is have we a proof of that or was it just made up so that the rules could be bent and they could be included in the Nihonto list? As you said, unless scientific analysis is made, I’m not sure it can be determined for sure what material was indeed used, and I wonder if those blades have been analyzed at some point.

Although I 100% agree with your comment, Paul, I have a question though. I know it’s already been treated in other threads but I think the replies I have read were never really satisfactory. So from my understanding, Nihonto = tamahagane, hand forged traditionally, water quenched, polished traditionally and of course, made in Japan. Therefore, any sword missing one of those elements isn’t traditional, thus not a true Nihonto (e.g. Many Gunto) So what about those early 17th century swordsmiths who used proudly Nanbantetsu? Why are they considered as true Nihonto when they skipped a stage of the whole process?

See, that’s the problem! I’ve been awfully tempted to get the Fujishiro by Stephen, even if clearly, it’s financially a bed month for me. So I’ve printed the PDF version available here just to see if I really should own them. And truly, I’m not sure what I’d do with them. Sure, they come with the translation but since I don’t even have any idea what this translation includes or what it does look like, I don’t know if I could use these books full potential. Looking just at the Japanese version, I know they’re almost useless to me as they are.

I have a katana with almost exactly the same color scheme. The koshirae is from late Edo and the sages is original I think. It’s plain black. Personally, if I were you, I’d go for a sageo with two different colors on each side and I’d go for the green of the tsukamaki and the other side cream.

Yes, I’m afraid it’s fake.

I don’t want to sound pessimistic, Chris, but that tracking info is from USPS. They usually transfer their packages to the local post, not UPS or DHL. I don’t believe it was stolen, but probably lost or forgotten in limbo. But don’t lose hope. Once, the French post lost a small package for me. It even disappeared from their tracking and they could find no trace of it anywhere in their computer base. Then, about a month later, it suddenly reappeared in their database and was delivered. Took two months in all. So I guess it’s just lying somewhere in a warehouse until someone suddenly notices it and reintroduces in the network.

Brano, if I may suggest, buying a sword is a huge investment, not only because it is a large sum of money, but also because we tend to make mistakes easily. With this sword, you’re looking at an expensive sword from the very start. Very often, the more we learn and know about swords, the more our tastes change and evolve. I know that if my first sword had been like that, I would have felt like Indiana Jones discovering the lost Ark. now, after about my 20+ years reading and looking at swords, my tastes have changed radically and I see more beauty in simple Suguha Hamon (straight temper line) than in any convoluted Hamon. All this to say that you should read a few books, even beginners books first (John Yumoto’s book: the Samurai Sword is very, very outdated, but it has the benefit of being read fast and showing you around all the basic aspects of Japanese Swords), and then, don’t aim so high for a first sword. Even basic swords by barely known sword smiths often hide unimaginable beauty once you start knowing what to look for. Get a a starter sword, just be sure it’s in good polish and you’ll be bitten by the bug.

Kiriil, not sure Brano knows enough to understand our specialized language!

What I think is that it especially shows the hypocrisy behind the whole thing. Yep, swords are art, well tbh, they are more like craft. Before having access to mechanization, sword smiths had to make their steel, pray to the gods of Shinto and hammer their sword with every drop of their sweat. They made masterpieces (well, many of them did) but I doubt the samurai in the heat of the battle would stop and ask his adversary to see how many sunagashi his Hamon boasted. Similarly, I doubt that If they’d had access to modern steel and techniques, sword smiths would have used traditional methods. Swords had one purpose, kill! And they are a product of their time, following the trends. When trends were shortening, everybody shortened their swords. If the trend in WW2 was chromium steel, I bet every modern samurai wanted one. So yes, the non traditional gunto are the kazuuchimono of WW2, but still, they shouldn’t be disregarded as they have their place in history. I think that there should be a papering system for them.they shouldn’t go high into the ranking system, and certainly below Hozon, but they are still worthy of preservation because, like it or not, they are the embodiment of a sword era.

I own a modern (Chinese) hitatsura sword like that that I paid $400. Its nice and very much like your example. Looks cool and showy, but I don’t know if I’d pay that much for a modern hitatsura sword. I also own a Muromachi era Soshu hitatsura katana and if that’s your stuff, I’d strongly suggest getting one as this one as your example looks more like an art piece than a real sword. Also, hitatsura always (at l’est that’s my opinion) look better in picture than in hand.

Shouldn’t there be room for both types of appreciation? I like both (though military is very recent for me, but I think it’s a whole new world too!) and can’t see one excluding the other. Both interesting, both for different reasons. And in the end, call Nihonto “art swords”, but at the basis of it all, one same purpose: cut your enemy. Manufacture methods are different, but times were too.

I wouldn’t be knowledgeable enough to help you, but I had a sword which had an elongated Kissaki, so I dug up the internet and books to see if it was just an elongated Kissaki or an O-Kissaki, and truth is, I realized that it was really a question of personal interpretation. Some called one sword elongated Kissaki while others called the same O-Kissaki. It was a bit frustrating. Here’s for me the best definition I found though contradicted by other sources: http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/kissaki.html “How to distinguish the kissaki type? As a matter of fact, it is difficult to distinguish the kissaki types on actual blades, with Ikubi-, Chu-, and O-kissaki. It is settled just by an optical impression. So sometimes, each person sees each kissaki in different types. So there is no exact rule to distinguish them by measurements. If we try to find a way to distinguish them, Ikubi-kissaki (short kissaki), kissaki length is shorter than yokote width x 1.5 Chu-kissaki (medium kissaki), kissaki length is in the range yokote width x 1.5 ~2 O-kissaki (long kissaki), kissaki length is longer than yokote width x 2”

I know there are John, but those are even more expensive. Now if all those weren’t out of print, it would be a no brained as the prices would be reasonable. That’s the problem of this hobby. It’s reserved to a rather wealthy élit. Books are expensive, swords are expensive, polishing is expensive... it’s not a third world hobby obviously... ...and here is also another reason I think. I have Markus’s Meikan. And as you know, the only one he didn’t write himself is the Kotō one. I remember my disappointment when I got it. Yes, it’s a good book, but compare it with his Shinto Meikan. Also still six hundred years of sword making in a Rather thin and not that precise book compared to the gems that Markus wrote for a 200 period era. I’d heard of the Nihon Kotō Shi as a reference long before I was able to read it and I think it’s not aged that well. I’d rather have a new version by Markus himself. Most of those out of print books are often old, so not being able to read them, you can’t know whether they are dated or not, and since they aren’t anywhere online with the traduction (unless my Google-fu is bad), you often have no way to know if they are absolutely necessary or not. When I saw you sale post, I was and am still strongly tempted to get the Fujishiro. The price is very reasonable compared to others I’ve seen. Sadly, I’ve spent more in swords since I’ve become a member here and I think it is time to save a little for a few months. If one of your offers pops up when my wallet isn’t crying mercy, you’ll have a buyer, just the wrong moment for me.

Well, I see two problems here. One is money. Most of the Japanese books are very expensive and the best ones are on the secondary market, sold out so prices sky rocket. And the second is related to the first one. Getting a great Japanese book is fine for Oshigata and all, except, many like me don’t read Japanese and will hesitate to pay top money for a book they can’t even read. Especially, as you said, when there are great, affordable books in English. Fujishiro is on my want/need list, but I hesitate getting a book I can’t really use.

Not exactly what you’re asking for but for me, nothing beats pictures with different lighting source. Besides, our eye gets so used to positive image that sometimes, transforming the image into a negative via a image program allows you to see what you would otherwise have missed.

I wholeheartedly agree with this comment. Sometimes, mumei or Suriage swords are the only ones allowed if you’re on a budget. A mumei, suriage blade by a master may have lost some of its appeal, but still retains much of its beauty, so for me, o- suriage, suriage or mumei, and not looking at this with an investment point of view, it doesn’t matter so long as it’s in a state of polish that allows you to study it.

To complete what Ray said, they’re like the ID papers of a sword in Japan. Every sword has to be registered. It just gives basic, unverified info on the sword associated with it.

Okay, so I read this thread, the other one (unfortunately, the pictures are long gone) about a Showato being accorded papers and the reply by Tsuruta san associated with it. Then I reread George Trotter’s translation of Ohmura on Hontanrento. And it leaves me with a question. If the sword in question was non traditional, oil quenched, with a Showa or Seki stamp, how could it have been labeled Hontanrento?

Took me some time too to understand what Chris meant. I think I do. He’s not accusing Tokka of anything but rather says that a preceding owner added some holes to an ubu blade to make it look like an o-suriage Kotō blade. Which he says is stupid because Hizen Hada is very easily recognizable and 1st gen. Tadayoshi is and was already at the time, an expensive master.

No, I use Choji oil for my swords. That last line was added because last week I suffered from a toothache and I had nothing on hand to soothe it. I know clove is used to soothe them. So I thought, what the heck, and put a drop of Choji oil on my finger and rubbed my gum where it ached. Probably dangerous and not very healthy but it worked like a charm.

If you can’t find any reference to something like it anywhere, I’d tread with caution...

T That’s the one I’ve been using for years and am happy with it. Besides, I love the smell and it soothes toothaches!